Members of the counterculture often expessed themselves with their clothing. By wearing cheap surplus clothes that have been recycled from earlier decades and repaired with patches, they showed that they were rejecting both consumerism and the social class structure. Ethnic clothing was popular for similar reasons. Beads and fringes imitated Native American costumes. while tie-dyed shirts borrowed techniques from India and Africa. The most potent symbol of the era was hair. Long hair, beards, and mustaches on young men symbolize defiance of both 1950's conformity. Over time longer hair on men and more individual clothing for both genders became generally accepted. What was once the clothing of defiance became mainstream. Counterculture musicians made use of folk music and the rhythms of rock 'n' roll and wrote heartfelt lyrics that expressed the hopes and fears of that generation. At festivals such as woodstock hundreds of thousands of people gathered to listen to new music. Major folk singers became an important voice of movement. Rock musicians popular witht the counterculture include Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Who. These musicians used electrically amplified instruments that drastically changed the sound of rock and their innovations continue to influence musicians today.
